David Tom Spices Up OLTL

When David Tom was recast as "One Life To Live's" Paul, he brought his formidable acting chops to the table, sank his teeth into the character, and swallowed it whole

The show has so much faith in his abilities that it didn't even give the viewers a heads-up with an announcement that "the roll of Paul is now being played by ..." Or any of that always-awkward dialogue, Kelly saying," "Oh, hi, Paul" or "Hey, bro!" He simply walked into Kelly's hopital rooma nd connected with his sister Kelly - helped by the fact that Kelly is played by his real life sister, Heather Tom.

David Tom entered the role of a crucial point because Kelly needed someone to help her cover up her miscarriage. Tom's Paul cried for his sister's loss and really made fans believe Paul cared. With Brock Cuchna in the role, Paul seemed like a driffer, hovering around the edges of the Cramer family. But Tom entrenched himself with the clan and made Paul a viable person for Kelly to turn to.

The character definitly needed beefing up, because the show was headed into a big crossover week with All My Children, and he needed to go toe-to-toe with major players like Robin Strasser and Ruc Watkins (OLTL's Dorlan & David), and David Canary and Bobbie Eakes *AMC's Adam & Krystal)

Cuchna was chewed up and spit out in his scnes with the Chandlers over the holidays, and he never seemed a worthy apponet for Watkins' acerbic David. If Cuchna was the hors'd'oeuver, Tom is the meaty entree, making his story a much more satisfying feast.